Lubbock-Cooper softball gets over bi-district hurdle with sweep of Plainview

PLAINVIEW — After consecutive seasons ending in excruciating fashion, Lydia Pesterfield did her part to make sure Lubbock-Cooper wasn't done in the first round this time.

After belting one in the opening game of the series, Pesterfield hit two more home runs Saturday to help Lubbock-Cooper complete its Class 5A bi-district sweep of Plainview.

Pesterfield launched a grand slam in the seventh inning to punctuate the Pirates' 11-1 win in Game 2 at Lady Bulldog Park. It was the second contest with the same score, sending Cooper to the area round after back-to-back years with Game 3 losses.

Lydia Pesterfield leads offensive outburst

Pesterfield hit 3 for 5 with six RBIs and three runs. She scored in a five-run first inning that included four hits.

Falyn French hit a home run in the frame, and Plainview never threatened. Pesterfield's first long ball put Cooper up 6-0 in the second.

"I'm just running into home runs right now," Pesterfield said. "I'm just having good at-bats, staying disciplined at the plate. … I just go into the box saying I need to hit the ball hard. If I hit a home run, I hit a home run."

Five of the Pirates' 14 hits went for extra bases.

"(Power hitting) comes around when we need it," Cooper coach Sheri Culwell said. "Today was a good day to have that."

Plainview's Yaneli Jaramillo comes in relief, hits home run

Yaneli Jaramillo entered in relief for Plainview with two outs in the first inning. She threw the rest of the game, limiting damage until Pesterfield's slam. She gave up 10 hits with seven strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter.

Jaramillo also hit a homer to lead the fourth inning, cutting the deficit to 6-1. But the Bulldogs couldn't string together enough hits off Alyssa Lozano, who notched 10 strikeouts and one walk.

Plainview coach Kami Carnell said the team showed the same fight it had all season.

"It was just a fighting season," Carnell said. "We had our ups and downs, but the girls just stuck together and kept to the team and to our inner circle. You could see them getting after it."

Lubbock-Cooper ends playoff drought

The Pirates will face El Paso Chapin in their first second-round matchup since 2018. Saturday marked the first playoff series win in Culwell's four seasons. Cooper took Amarillo High and Canyon Randall to three games as an underdog each of the past two years.

"They have endured my voice and my demands all season, in fact some of them for the last three and four years," Culwell said. "To get over the hump of bi-district I think is just huge."

Pesterfield said she's been looking forward to this moment since she got to high school. The junior catcher hopes to extend the playoff run using the same formula.

"We just have to keep preaching 'family,'" Pesterfield said, "because that's something that we've preached every day for the past year. It's just staying as a family and staying positive as a family. It really just helps us in the dugout and on the field."

CLASS 5A BI-DISTRICT

Lubbock-Cooper 11, Plainview 1

Cooper 510 001 4 — 11 14 1

Plainview 000 100 0 — 1 6 2

Alyssa Lozano. Liliana Vaquera and Yaneli Jaramillo (1). W — Lozano. L — Vaquera. 2B — Lubbock-Cooper, Addison Gunset, Bridget Snodgrass. HR — Lubbock-Cooper, Lydia Pesterfield 2, Falyn French. Plainview, Jaramillo.

Records: Plainview 9-26; Lubbock-Cooper 19-13.